Women: A Dichotomy of Power and Victimization

The portrayals of women in propaganda are a source of contention, especially when those portrayals are done in various fashions across a spectrum of contentious nations. This is most prevalently seen in the portrayals of women in posters created by the soon to be formed Soviet Union and the United States. In these posters women take on a variety of roles as the various countries see fit to use them in, which may be evidence of the values these countries held in terms of their women. In particular here several different instances of the portrayal of women from propaganda posters of both the pre-Soviet Union and the United States will be analyzed for their various portrayals of women in order to try and motivate their workers, soldiers, and of course the women themselves. They will be analyzed for their use of visual elements, as well as the various social connotations that those elements and the imagery itself portrays.

The period of 1910-1920 was a tumultuous time for not just the United States and the Pre-Soviets, but the world as it found itself caught in the middle of a catastrophic and in some instances economically back-breaking war. The chaotic nature of this period is best characterized by the massive upheaval of the Russian government in the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. From this time period comes the first poster for analysis, portraying a woman worker reaching for what appears to be a military rifle, the caption beneath reading in Russian “Women Workers, Take Up Your Rifles” (Carpenter “Working Women for the Bolshevik Cause”).

The visual elements of this poster are outwardly aggressive in not only the message, but the style itself through the use of stark coloration and bold color choices that also, through the use of red, help the viewer to attribute the poster to the communist party.

Compare this poster to the outwardly more passive poster created by the United States YWCA. This poster was meant to inspire both men and women back home with the slogan “Back Our Girls Over There” (Carpenter “Back Our Girls Over There”).

Visually it shows a female working in a less aggressive role in a war effort. Rather than having her physically take up arms against an opposing force she is shown minding a switchboard while the men in the background march to fight.

Outwardly these posters have many elements in common and dissimilar that help those viewing it to have an understanding of the differing values of these two societies in a certain period of time. Visually the Russian poster uses more starke lines and a bolder color palette as was previously mentioned. The focus is directly upon the woman and what she is doing for the Bolshevik cause, and for the workers themselves, in taking up that rifle and fighting alongside every other man and woman as an equal. The YWCA poster uses more shades of pastel, as well as softer lines and focus in order to convey its message. The woman, while definitely the central figure, is not as emphasized in the poster.

Interestingly enough both posters manage to express as though the governments making use of these posters as caring and sympathetic to women. For the Bolsheviks it was by garnering support in encouraging women to stand up for themselves, that their voices mattered in this great revolution and that they would make a difference in the new Russian government (Carpenter “Working Women for the Bolshevik Cause”). On the American side this is demonstrated through the YWCA’s concern for the women, and asking American people to stand up for our girls who are aiding in the fight while not actually doing anything too dangerous.

However, both posters had very different goals. One was seeking to ignite a revolution and to garner soldiers in the formation of a state that was seeking to end inequality for all its peoples, including women (Carpenter). The other was simply attempting to raise money to aid in the war effort, and possibly recruit some women to work as telephone operators overseas along the way (Carpenter “Back Our Girls Over There”).

Following the end of WWI and the Bolshevik revolution, the portrayals of women by the Pre-Soviets and the United States would shift in a few ways in order to better accommodate the needs of the government. For the Soviets, this would take a more economic portrayal, showing the power of women and their necessity as workers and equal citizens in the 1920s. For the United States women would be further portrayed as victims of war rather than proponents of building a strong country.

In the 1920’s the Bolshevik government had a great appreciation for women in the workforce, having declared women equal to men and thus an equally important economic entity within the sphere of government (Lany). Many Bolsheviks, through Lenin, saw the former roles of women as confining, which meant they were unable to be the greatest benefit to the state which they were able (Lany). The poster from this time period in Russian history portrays a woman who is neither young nor old, and thus can appeal to all ages, looking stoically out of the poster.

It uses a similar visual style when compared to the former revolutionary poster, with bold lines and a strong use of color, red in particular. The woman portrayed here is meant to be a generic worker looking to the future under the red banner of socialism with the slogan saying “Emancipated Woman- Build Up Socialism”(Lany). In this way, the dual nature of how the Bolshevik socialist government had built up women is portrayed, while also empowering women with the agency to build up the socialist government in turn.

In contrast to this is a United States poster from WWII portraying a Japanese soldier assaulting an American woman with the caption “Keep This Horror From Your Home” (McCrackin).

While the focus of this propaganda is mostly on the Japanese soldier, the poster makes use of victimization of a female in order to portray its point. It could be reasonably argued that this is (socially) a step backwards in the American portrayal of women in propaganda. The previous poster at least had managed to show a woman in a useful and necessary role in the war effort. Here she has been downgraded to B-horror movie victim. The use of victimization can be a powerful motivator in attempting to get people to perform a certain action, in this case it was to buy war bonds. However it also severely denies agency to the women who are performing necessary para-military roles during WWII, as well as the many roles they filled back at home while many of working age males were fighting.

These two posters actually use a variety of similar color schemes in order to motivate their victims, but to different means. While the pre-Soviet poster was meant to inspire through use of red color schema, the American poster was meant to anger.

Following these time periods in the early 20th Century, both countries would take steps forward in the social progress of women in their respective societies. While in the United States women would gain the right to vote in 1919-1920 (“Our Documents”) it can be argued that even to this day they do not receive equal treatment in the workplace or in government. How the propaganda of today has changed in its portrayals of women as compared to the early to mid 20th century is a topic worth looking into for the future, but for now it is pleasant to observe the achievements and mistakes of the past.